It's been a week filled with those days when you glance around the kitchen, throw up your hands and lament that's it too hot to cook. Don't worry, because you won't have to wait around for some hamburger patties to defrost in the kitchen sink -- in fact, Oo-Kook, a rather ritzy Korean BBQ that specializes in high-quality cuts of cow (it's in the logo and name, after all), has the whole frozen-beef aspect covered.

Yukhwe is essentially Korean beef tartare, finely minced and served at subzero temperatures. What you think of the deconstructed rice bowl known as bibimbap probably hinges heavily on your feelings about raw meat. But rest assured, because Oo-Kook takes high priority in its beef, improving it with a slight drizzle of sesame oil and crushed black seeds.

When you order the bibimbap, it arrives with a rainbow-colored plate filled with little piles of chilled marinated veggies and a raw egg. Will you miss the rice-crisping factor of a sizzling stone bowl, like at bibimbap specialist Jeon Ju? Maybe, but there's something oddly compelling about a steak dinner served on ice.

Garrett Snyder is a food writer and cookbook author based in Los Angeles whose work has appeared in outlets such as the L.A. Times, Los Angeles magazine, Tasting Table, Punch, GQ and KCRW. He enjoys tiki drinks and Taco Tuesdays.